Foundations
by ThatMaddyBee
Summary: Ninja know better than most that you take what family you can get and hold them close, regardless of name or blood. The rebel faction causing trouble in Suna are there to show Sakura exactly what it means to be a family of choice rather than one of circumstance. (Saku/Shika)
1. Prologue

Foundations

 _Prologue_

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Konoha was silent, for once.

The sky was the mottled grey and pink of early morning, and the village was still.

Well, mostly.

After all, it was a village of ninja, a village never truly off duty. ANBU still lurked in the shadows, protecting and serving, while the rest of the world slumbered around them. It was not a time of war, but you could never be too careful.

One such ANBU landed lightly on the forest ground, staring down the dirt path that led to the clan's main house. He moved in whispers, in the absence of space, just as he had been taught to do all those years ago. His chakra was cloaked out of second nature, and the hand that rapped sharply on the wooden door was controlled and precise.

Even the surrounding forest was silent as he waited for an answer.

Several long seconds later, the door cracked open and a face peered out at him. The ANBU nodded his head in respect, and the door opened further. The woman in front of him was clearly not happy to be pulled from her bed, robe pulled tightly around her and dark hair falling in sleep-mussed curls.

Her inky eyes looked deep into his, wary and weary in equal measures.

"Which one of them do you need?"

Her voice was rough with sleep.

His voice was equally stony.

"Both."

* * *

He'd awoken the second the ANBU had appeared on his grounds.

He'd like to attribute that all to pure survival skill, but it was largely due to the deep paranoia, the overwhelming protectiveness that curled deep in his soul. He was the man of the house now, and he had people to protect.

He wouldn't lose anyone else.

It had taken his eyes a second to catch up with his brain, but as they opened he registered the grey light filtering lazily through the window. Early morning visits from ANBU weren't good - not that visits from ANBU generally were.

Leisurely, he pushed himself up into a seated position, scrubbing calloused hands over his face in an attempt to gain some clarity. The sheet pooled in his bare lap, and the body beside him shifted at the loss of warmth.

With his past girlfriends, he'd never understood the whole 'watching while they slept' thing. To him, it was creepy, and no one looked good sleeping anyway.

But that was then, and this is now, and he could watch her for days.

She was twisted away from him, her bare back slightly flushed from where it had been pressed against his chest as they slept. Her hands were tucked up under the pillow that her face was hidden in, and her pink hair fell across her shoulders and the sheets, contrasting so brightly against the black.

She was beautiful when she slept.

Maybe that was the bias talking.

Either way, she was waking now, her senses picking up the foreign chakra that was making it's way towards the house. Some would think that meant that her senses were slower than his, but that was far from the case. As a medic, she had extensive sensory training, and she never slept deeply anyway.

Not many of them did these days.

No, rather she was slower to wake because she trusted him. Trusted him to watch her back, keep her safe no matter what.

And wasn't that both an honour and a burden.

They both knew they'd protect each other to the end, but that didn't mean that their abilities didn't have limits like everyone else. He'd do what he could, but he always feared it wouldn't be enough - because one day it wouldn't be.

But there was no time to dwell on that now, as the ANBU was starting down the path to the house and Sakura was sat up staring at the window, probably able to tell who it was from the chakra signature - as head medic of ANBU, she knew all of them.

After a pause, she turned to him with a smile, green eyes shining. He gave her one back, a small curve of the lips that he reserved largely just for her.

Then the second passes, and they are ninja once more.

And by the time the ANBU had stated that it was both Sakura and Shikamaru he was after, the two were dressed and geared up, smiling reassuringly at Yoshino before following their summon through the dreary breach of morning.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** So started one Shika/Saku story and ended up working on another one instead. Wanted to do something a little more serious, where romance was already established (and therefore isn't the main focus of the story). I don't think it will be a very long story, maybe 10 or so chapters, but you'll have to wait and see!


	2. Chapter 1

Foundations

 _Chapter 1_

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The effort that the cleaner was currently putting into laughing politely at her was likely to make his head explode. She had never felt so much concealed hatred being shot her way before, and she was seriously fighting down the urge to hightail it out of there. She honestly hadn't meant to get footprints all over the freshly cleaned floor - she just forgot her boots were muddy.

If anything, it was Tsunade's fault for summoning Sakura to her office less than 8 hours after she had returned from a week-long mission.

She had barely cleaned herself before collapsing into bed, let alone cleaned her clothing or equipment. The fact that there was dried blood coating the saw-toothed blade attached to her belt was probably the only reason the cleaner hadn't tried to beat her with his mop.

Shooting him one more apologetic, embarrassed grimace, she quickened her pace to get round the corner as quickly as possible. Beside her, Shikamaru turned his chuckle into a throat-clear at her pointed glare, smirking as he reached to knock sharply on the Hokage's door.

"Come in!" was the immediate response from within, and Shikamaru - ever the gentleman, _haha -_ held the door for Sakura before both came to stand in front of their Hokage. It was barely 5am, and by all means, Tsunade should have looked just as rough as they did. Somehow though, she was painted and ready, sat stiffly in her chair and swapping a serious stare between the two jounin in front of her.

"Firstly," the blonde began, settling her gaze on Sakura, "I'm sorry to call you out so soon after you got back, but this couldn't wait."

Sharing a concerned glance with the man next to her, Sakura straightened slightly in anticipation.

"About an hour ago, I received a letter from Gaara," she explained, pushing the letter forward on the desk. Sakura immediately felt a shock of concern for the Kazekage, whom she had got rather close to over the past few years - mainly due to Naruto - and reached out for the letter, scanning the words whilst still listening to Tsunade.

"Over the past week, there have been several sightings of a large group of unidentified ninja in the desert surrounding Suna. The reports from scouts say that they appeared to be moving towards Suna, but before Gaara could send out a squad to dispose of them, they attacked."

Shikamaru's brow furrowed, immediately putting his mind to use despite the early hour. "Missing-nin?" he inquired, taking the letter from Sakura's outstretched hand. Noticing the slightly queasy look on his girlfriends face, he took a half-step closer and let his knuckles brush against hers.

"They don't appear to be," Tsunade replied, eyes staring at the wall in deep thought, "none of them had headbands, and neither their clothing styles or weapons suggest a certain point of origin."

"So they're a rag-tag group of thugs picking on people for no reason?"

There was venom dripping from Sakura's voice, and as Shikamaru finished the letter, he understood why.

"They're poisoning people?" he clarified, looking up from the scroll to his superior, who nodded solemnly.

"They broke in overnight, tore apart a section of the civilian district, poisoned a few who likely tried to fight them off, then disappeared again." Tsunade sighed, running a hand through her bangs. "Those are all the details I have for now, but you can see why they need our help. This isn't coming at a good time for them, they still haven't recovered from the last series of attacks."

The Hokage took a second to think, chewing on her scarlet lips, before she straightened up and threw a tightly-bound scroll to a scowling Shikamaru. "Ok, here's how this is going to work. You two will be the leaders of the team until Kakashi can get there. A message has been sent to him in Lightning, so he should be in Suna a day after you."

"Shikamaru," she barked, turning stony eyes on him, "you'll be leading the tracking team. Figure out who they are, what they're doing there, and then find and incapacitate them."

A nod was her only answer.

"Sakura, you'll be in charge of figuring out what the poison is and then creating the antidote. Those infected are your priority, but after they've been healed join the others. I suggest you take Hinata as a nurse, and a way for you to find the others should you need to pursue them."

Sakura nodded distractedly, already mentally packing her medical bag with anything she could need.

"For the tracking team take Kiba, Neji, Sai and Shino. I want you gone by 9am, and I want frequent updates. Got it?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," the two replied in unison, with a short bow of respect.

"Good, you are dismissed."

The couple exited the room in silence, mulling over the mission in their heads. The light outside was weak, and Sakura couldn't help but want to be back in bed more than anything. She voiced her current feelings in the form of a long, low groan as they trudged down the steps to head back to the Nara household.

Mouth twisting in amusement, Shikamaru wound his arms tightly around the shorter girl, silencing her with a press of his lips. Sakura sighed happily into the kiss, before pulling away to lean her head on his chest and hold him close. Smirking, he dropped a kiss to the top of her head, let her go, and started tugging her down the road by her hand.

"Come on, it's too early to wake the others, we can go sleep for another hour or so."

A wicked grin formed on Sakura's face and she pulled sharply on his hand to send him spinning around into her. Pressing her lips against his ear, she gently informed him that they were definitely not going to be sleeping. In return, Shikamaru gave up with the walking and started hopping between roof tops.

Maybe they could afford two hours.

* * *

Unfortunately, they didn't have two hours, and all too soon Sakura found herself in front of the Hyuga household. She was decked in her newly cleaned outfit of tight black pants,the red Haruno shirt and her beloved knee-high boots. Her precious saw blade was clean and tucked into her belt, along with her medic pouch, explosive kunai and her favourite hallucinatory smoke-bombs - they were her own invention, and she wasn't afraid to say she was pretty proud of them.

The maid who answered the door recognised the pink-haired girl instantly, and bowed in respect before hurrying to find the heir and her cousin.

It was Neji who appeared first to find her investigating a vase that she had never noticed before.

"Careful Haruno, I'd hate to have to explain to the Hokage why her star pupil had her hands cut off for breaking priceless ornaments."

Sakura rolled her eyes, making a few mocking noises in what was supposed to be an impersonation of Neji, before turning to stare at the man himself. When she caught sight of him, her shoulders drooped and an irritated huff escaped her mouth.

"Ok, you literally woke up 2 minutes ago, how do you already look that pristine?"

The man smirked in reply, smoothing down the silky locks that were thrown casually over his shoulder, straight and shining to perfection.

"Jealousy doesn't suit you Haruno," he mocked, dragging his eyes down her form, "just because some of us don't look like they spent the night sleeping in the forest."

"What was that, princess? I could kill you 300 different ways with my left foot so you might want to retract that statement." There was fire in her eyes, and her fist was clenched as she stepped right up to Neji. The intimidation may have been slightly dampened by the fact that he was nearly a foot taller than her.

"Bring it on, child."

"Oh that's it!"

And that was how Hinata found them. Her cousin and her best friend, wrestling on the floor and calling each other stupid names. Really, they had the weirdest friendship, and Hinata would never understand it.

Muffling her giggles behind a slender hand, the two looked up at her like kids who had been caught by their mother. Neji, quick to regain his usual composure, promptly dropped Sakura's leg - which sent her nearly crashing to the ground - and smoothed down his hair like the pompous twat he was.

Sakura really didn't know why she ever bothered to tolerate him. If she wasn't the designated medic for his ANBU team, and she didn't enjoy beating him to a pulp so much, she would have ditched him a long time ago.

Although she lived for teasing him about Tenten - the colour of red he turned was the exact colour she had picked for her shirt.

Also patting down her disheveled hair, she smiled brightly at the violet-haired girl in front of her, walking forwards to envelope her in a tight hug. Hinata was dressed in her pyjamas, and looked so adorable Sakura felt her inner mumma bear kicking in.

"How was your mission?" Hinata inquired softly, visually searching the taller girl's body for any signs of injury in a way that Sakura was used to giving, not receiving.

"It was fine," she assured, with a flap of her hand "I'm here about the mission that we leave for in two hours." This statement piqued the interest of Neji, who stepped closer to the females, swiftly unscrolling and scanning the scroll that Sakura handed him.

"There's trouble in Suna, some rogues that no one can identify just rocked up and started poisoning people," she explained, before meeting Hinata's eyes, "hope you don't mind, but you'll be playing both medic and tracker for this one."

Hinata merely smiled widely at the pinkette, assuring her she didn't mind at all.

"Great, gates in two hours ok? Hopefully we'll be able to deal with them in a matter of days, but pack for a week. If it takes longer than that, Tsunade said we'd have to regroup and reconsider. Anyway, see you in a bit!"

With a wave, the medic let herself out of the house, leaving the acres of clan territories and heading back towards the centre of the village. Shikamaru was getting Kiba and Shino, so it was up to her to brave the horrors of an all-male house and inform Sai. She wasn't sure she was prepared for the mess that was about to hit her.

* * *

The house was tall, thin and tucked away on the corner of a side street.

It had been Sakura's home for three years, and she missed it dearly - peeling paint and all. After the death of her father, her relationship with her mother had become somewhat strained, as him dying on a mission caused her mother to freak out about Sakura being a ninja. She meant well, but Sakura couldn't take the smothering.

Then her mother met Takumi, and their relationship went from rocky to volatile.

Sakura didn't like Takumi, Takumi didn't like her, and when he moved in, she moved out. It was better for everyone that way. Mostly because the second Naruto found out, he insisted they lived together. Sai was, of course, added to the plan, and they had somehow managed to survive living together without burning the house down.

It had only been 2 months since Sakura had moved out, and she missed the boys like crazy. They were her family, and going from spending every waking moment together to seeing each other every couple of days was a big change. Not that she didn't love living with Shikamaru, and their new flat was beautiful (or it would be once it was repainted and they could actually move in, rather than staying in Shikamaru's childhood bedroom and hoping that his mother couldn't hear them having sex).

Pushing down a wave of nostalgia, she dug out her spare key, pushing chakra into the lock and hoping that the disgusting smell of rotting food and sweaty underwear wouldn't hit her the second the door opened. As she stood in the hallway, however, she was pleasantly surprised by how tidy it was. It was also silent, which meant that she would have the fun job of attempting to wake Sai without receiving a kunai to the throat - those ROOT reflexes weren't something that wore off.

Flicking through a pile of letters that had been stacked haphazardly by the door, she wandered into the kitchen in search of coffee. What she found instead was an intense black gaze drilling a hole into her forehead.

"Morning Sasuke," she chirped, tossing the envelopes in her hand onto the table after finding nothing of interest.

"Good morning," he replied slowly, gaze following her as she flicked on the kettle. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Sai's coming on a mission with me. You?" she questioned, hopping onto the counter to face him. He was chewing on an apple, flipping through a catalogue of weapons, as if he lived here - despite the fact that he lived on the other side of town in the empty Uchiha compound.

His eyes dropped from hers to the catalogue in his hands, but he didn't seem to be taking any of it in.

"It's happening again, isn't it?" her voice was soft, a worried frown pulling at her lips. He nodded silently. Ever since his return nearly a year ago, with Itachi and Orochimaru both dead and Madara nowhere to be seen, Team 7 had been working on rebuilding itself.

It hadn't been easy.

For the first few weeks, she couldn't look Sasuke in the eyes. She couldn't be alone with him, and she couldn't always hide the fear whenever he got too close to her. She didn't trust him for a long time, but they were ok now. Better than they'd ever been before. They were the siblings they should have been all along, rather than the tangle of hatred and obsession that they'd turned into. It was after the bonds had been rebuilt stronger than before that Sasuke had shared something with Sakura that he'd never told anyone else.

He told her about the nightmares.

Nightmares of his dead family, of his lost brother - of what could have happened had he actually killed her or Naruto. They came in bouts, paired with intense headaches, and the result of overusing the sharingan. She wasn't sure why this was, but she wanted to try and help.

Slipping from the counter, she sat instead on the table next to him, waiting patiently until he lifted his head to look at her. Pushing his hair back, she placed her fingers at either temple and began seeping chakra into his irritated eyes and overworked brain, soothing what she could and ridding him of what would have been an awful headache.

The minute relaxation in his posture had Sakura smiling, and she brushed a hand through his hair affectionately as she stood. She then smacked him round the back of the head, and walked away to the satisfying grunt of pain he made.

"I thought I told you to tell me when you feel the pain _starting_ , not leave it to the point that it stops you sleeping and fucks your eyes up even further."

Even with her back turned, she could feel him roll his eyes.

Pottering about the large kitchen, she fixed three coffees, placing one on the table, taking a sip from another, and placing the last down before Sasuke. She got a 'hn' in response, but the gratitude was really shown when he pulled out the seat next to him, tugged her into it, then pushed the platter of fruit towards her.

They sat in companionable silence for mere seconds before a tall figure practically glided into the room.

"Good morning, Ugly, Traitor," he greeted, nodding at both before picking up the last coffee.

"Mission to Suna, we're taking out a bunch of rebels in the desert so pack your sunscreen, it's going to be hot as balls."

Sasuke snorted in amusement at her statement, while Sai opted for the confused head tilt more commonly seen on dogs. Before he could question what she meant, Sakura halted him by raising a hand.

"Meet me at the gates in an hour and a half, details are in here," she tossed him a scroll, "and pack for a week. I'm going to say goodbye to wonderboy."

She left the two raven-haired men in what was a not-very-comfortable silence and ran up the stairs, pausing at the door to her old room for a second before pushing forward to Naruto's room. Knowing that knocking was futile, she let herself in, strode up to the bed and flipped the mattress, sending the blonde toppling to the floor.

She then backed up quickly out of punching range as the boy jumped up in a sleepy, pissed off mess.

"What the fuck the who, what?" was the eloquence that dropped from Naruto's lips as he blinked dumbly at the light flooding in through the open door. He then spotted Sakura, who was stood with a grin and crossed arms, and immediately went into panic mode.

"Oh god, what did I forget? Whatever it was, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I love you Sakura-chan!"

Really, it would never not be funny that this man had faced gods and monsters alike, but was terrified of a 5"5 pink haired girl.

Not that anyone who knew her would have disagreed with him when he said she was the scariest being to have ever graced the planet.

"Naruto, relax, you didn't forget anything. I just came to say goodbye, me and Sai have a mission with Kaka-sensei and a bunch of others."

His shoulders that had relaxed in relief tensed up again immediately.

"What? How come both you and the robot get a mission and I don't?" Naruto pouted, crossing his arms and kicking his foot as he sulked. Honestly, Sakura didn't know what she had done in a past life to merit being stuck with a bunch of emotionally-retarded babies as friends.

Never one for pessimism, the boy quickly brightened up and enveloped Sakura into a bone-crushing bear hug. She instantly reciprocated, taking comfort in his smell. He smelt like home - he always would. They had been through it all together, and each were the other's siblings they'd never had.

She was so blessed to have this massive fucking idiot in her life.

Wrenching herself from his grasp, she tilted her head to look up at him (when had all the guys gotten so damn tall?) and began walking backwards out the door. "Come on, wonderboy, Sai and Sasuke are alone together in the kitchen, and we both know it's in the unwritten Team 7 Rulebook that those two can't be left alone for more than five minutes."

A look of horror passed over Naruto's face before he flew down the stairs and into the kitchen, immediately leaping to grab Sai in a chokehold, effectively stamping down whatever insult the boy had been in the middle of directing at Sasuke. The blonde then tugged Sai to his feet and began shaking him, screeching loudly as his gaze jumped from the artist to Sasuke and back again. Sakura stood in the doorway a moment, overwashed with happiness at how complete her family was.

Sasuke then glanced up and caught her eyes, giving her a nod and a look that she'd come to interpret as _don't you dare get yourself fucking killed, you cretin._

Offering him a silent salute, she left the house smiling to go and finish packing, already thinking of what to cook for their family dinner when she returned.

She just needed to figure out how to blackmail Yamato into attending.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** In terms of an accurate timeline from the manga - I have none. Any events important to the story will be mentioned, but it won't follow the series, so people will be alive when they shouldn't be and some things will be completely made up (like the whole Sakura vs her mum thing). Anyway, hope you're enjoying it so far!


	3. Chapter 2

Foundations

 _Chapter 2_

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The early morning chill had dissipated by the time Sakura touched down at the front gates of the village.

As usual, she was the first one there.

Luckily, Genma was in the guard hut, and there was no better waste of time than bullying long-haired senbon-users. The two were often put on the same team when a delicate mix of stealth and blunt power was needed - mostly because Kakashi usually lead those infiltration missions, and both her and Genma were lucky enough to be in his trusted circle.

"So I talked to Suki this morning at the Hokage tower," she began innocently, tapping her fingers on the desk as she spoke in tones that had him instantly dreading what was about to happen. "She seemed pretty tired. She also seemed flustered about something, started blushing awfully when I asked her how her week had been."

By this point, Genma was laughing nervously as he ran a hand over his bandana-covered hair. Sakura's smile grew impish as she leant on the front desk, cheek in palm and glowing eyes fixed on his.

"Ok, so I might have gotten drunk-"

He was interrupted by Sakura's palm smacking loudly down in front of him.

"I knew it! Genma, for fuck sake, you keep going back to her! Maybe you, I don't know, actually like her or something?" She propositioned, with the tone one used when explaining to a child why he shouldn't stick his fingers in a plug socket.

"Wait, this slut's capable of real feelings? Who knew!"

Snorting at the interruption behind her, she smirked as she turned to the newcomer.

"Bit rich coming from you, isn't it?"

Kiba merely shrugged in agreement, a wicked grin on his face.

"What can I say, I love a bit of variety." Sakura only rolled her eyes in amusement at his response, before her gaze sharpened at the ginger way he held himself. Pushing herself of the desk, she strode up to him and settled her hand against his left side.

"You know, there's a reason medic's exist," she drawled, healing chakra flowing through his ribs like water. The brunette sighed lightly in relief, eyes closed. It was a moment before he cracked one eye open again to fix her with a grin.

"What was I supposed to do with my favourite medic out of town?"

"Maybe stop flirting with other people's girlfriends?" Shikamaru answered, smirk on his face as he approached the gates, flanked by the Hyuga cousins. Kiba laughed unabashedly, for they all knew that the flirting he directed at Sakura had no feeling behind it whatsoever.

The two were drinking buddies, it was companionship, not lust, that coloured his words.

Shaking her head at the boys, she reached up to peck Shikamaru on the lips as he came to stand by her, a warm hand pressing into the small of her back. The group then stood around conversing casually, until a few minutes later when Shino and Sai appeared.

Laying out the mission details, Sakura decided on the travel formation of her and Kiba upfront and Neji and Shino taking the rear. With a quick wink at Genma, she then led her team into the forest, speeding in the direction of Suna as the sun rose in the sky.

* * *

By the time they reached Suna a couple of days later, Sakura remembered vividly why she had stopped accepting missions in the desert. It was hot and sticky and the sand got _everywhere._

The waiting room outside the Kazekage's office was blessedly cool, and Sakura relished the chill that seeped through her shirt as she stood with her back pressed against the wall. She could have happily stayed there all day if a chunin hadn't suddenly opened the office doors from the inside, bowing low and ushering the visitors inside.

Sakura led the way, smiling brightly at the red-head that sat impassively behind his desk.

"Hey Gaara! I mean, Kazekage-sama." She corrected herself, nodding her head and attempting to hide her smile. Gaara simply smirked lightly, brushing off the formalities with a wave of his hand.

"It is good to see you," he spoke in his monotonous, even tone, letting his gaze sweep over the group before coming back to rest on Sakura. "Suna welcomes you all, and thanks you greatly for offering to assist."

The next 15 minutes were then spent going over the situation.

Gaara had little detail to add to what they already knew, as there had been no sightings of the rebels since the report had been sent to Konoha. He had sent out a tracking team on a fruitless search, and the poison victims were currently in induced comas, stable until Sakura could heal them.

It was agreed then that Shikamaru and the rest of the team would meet with the Suna tracking squad, before heading out with Kankuro and Temari that evening in the hope that they could find a lead.

Shikamaru gave Sakura's hand a light squeeze as he was dismissed, bowing to Gaara before following the others out of the room. When the heavy doors closed, Gaara let out a sigh and began to massage his temples.

"They're targeting my people, Sakura. People who have already lost so much. I hope you forgive me for my…" he hesitated, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Short attitude. I do appreciate you all coming here. Konoha has always had a particular skill at producing good trackers, and there is no one I would trust more than you to heal my people."

"We'll help, Gaara, I promise." Sakura replied quietly, brow furrowing at the stress that was easily visible on the young Kazekage's face. He nodded once more, the slightest hint of a smile on his face, before turning his chair to the window.

"Thank you. If you need anything, say the word."

Despite the fact that he had his back turned, she bowed slightly in respect before leaving for the hospital.

She had an antidote to create.

* * *

It was pitch-black by the time she returned to the assigned suites in the Kazekage tower.

It had been a long day, but through a lot of testing she had finally managed to identify the poison and create an antidote, and although those infected were still in the hospital with bad fevers, their internal organs were no longer decaying - which was always a good thing.

She was exhausted, and hadn't heard from the others all day. After Hinata had assisted her with the initial examination of the patients, she had left to join the others before they departed on their hunt. That was nearly 9 hours ago now.

Unfortunately, she knew that the team had not been successful in finding the thugs, thanks to a message Gaara had sent down to her several hours ago. It was irritating for sure that they had suddenly vanished, but they obviously wanted something from Suna, and Sakura was confident that it wouldn't be long before they showed their faces again.

Letting loose a long yawn, she rubbed at her neck, trying to ease the pain that came from hunching over a table all day. Just the thought of the massive, plush beds that the guest rooms contained had her almost moaning.

Plus, she missed her lazy-ass boyfriend more than they she probably should.

Letting herself into the suite, she was met with still, silent darkness and a slight chill in the stone room. Stripping as she went, she padded lightly into the bathroom, attempting not to rouse the lump that she could spy in the bed through the crack in the door.

The warm water made her head swim slightly, and she had to ponder for a minute how long it had been since she last ate while she ran through the motions of showering. Towelling herself dry and tossing her hair up into a messy bun, she then stepped into the bedroom.

A gentle smile graced her features at the sight of Shikamaru, shirtless and sprawled across the bed, face relaxed in a way it never was while he was awake. She played with the t-shirt in her hand for a second, chewing on her lip as she thought, before tossing the garment back onto the floor.

Slipping silently into the bed, she pressed her body against the side of his, soaking up the warmth that radiated from his bare skin. He was awake in a second, looping an arm around her back to draw her closer. As he buried his face in her hair, she could only sigh in contentment, running her hand lightly over his toned torso.

"How'd it go?"

His voice was gravelly from sleep, and the soft tone sent a shiver down her spine. She could feel his responding smirk pressing into her hair.

"It took a while, but we got it. They're being closely monitored, hopefully they should be fine in a couple of days." Her reply was mumbled into his chest, she was too busy tracing with her fingertips the body she knew so well to really form a proper answer.

He hummed an approving note, shifting slightly so he could place light kisses down her neck and across her collarbone. Sakura's eyes closed as she relished the feeling, and had to take a second to form words.

"I heard from Gaara that you didn't find anything."

The sound the Nara now made was one of grudging agreement, and she was about to reassure him that tomorrow they'd figure out what to do when his hand began tracing lazy patterns onto her upper thigh.

His mouth then moved to suck on the pulse beating in her neck, and suddenly she wasn't tired anymore.

Pulling his head up, she kissed him deeply, complying readily when he rolled her over and braced himself above her with arms on either side of her head. He ravaged her with his tongue for a few minutes, before pulling away and staring at her with muted reverence.

"I love you."

It wasn't often that he actually spoke those words.

"I love you too."

Then he was kissing her again, hotter and more forceful than before. It wasn't long before he had her sighing lightly, a hand on one breast and his mouth on the over. She arched up from the bed, pulling the tie from his hair to run her hands through the dark locks and anchor him in place. He then swapped breasts, mouth teasing and fingers brushing before a sharp tug on his hair had him upping the ante.

Teeth grazed one nipple while fingers pinched lightly at the other, and Sakura could feel herself leaving scratch-marks on the tanned skin of his back. Soon he was travelling further down her body, pressing kisses to her scorching flesh, but never lingering long. His lips branded her hipbone, fingers tracing down her sides.

Her thighs were next, caressed and stroked and lightly bitten until she began to writhe around on the bed, grumbling slightly at his teasing. Shikamaru only chuckled, startling a gasp out of her as he blew hot air between her legs.

Then, he got to work.

It was something that he was impossibly good at, a talent that you'd never guess he'd posses. But his tongue drew circles while his fingers curled inside her, and it wasn't long before her legs were clamped down around his head and her knees were shaking.

She had to bite her knuckles to stop herself from moaning too loudly.

Once she had relinquished her hold, he travelled back up her body until they were pressed together at the waist, kissing passionately. Always one for teasing, and never one for patience, Sakura rolled her hips against him, causing them both to groan as his hot, hard length pressed against her. With a roll of his hips this time, he was inside her. His face buried in her neck, and her hands in his hair, thighs wrapped around his waist, he began to pump quickly into her. Struggling to keep quiet, her mouth dropped open in a silent moan as he picked up the speed, hitting her at just the right angle to be glorious.

It wasn't long before she was arching off the bed once more, and it was soon after that that he followed, groaning quietly as he came inside her. They lay there for several seconds, catching their breath, before Shikamaru gently pulled himself out and collapsed on his back bonelessly.

Sakura let out a quiet laugh, turning her head to meet his gaze with an affectionate smile. Dropping one last kiss onto her forehead, he once again tucked her against his side, righted the covers, and dozed off quickly in the cool moonlight.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry it's a short one, had a busy week! Hope you liked it, and to say sorry for the length I'll be posting a 2-parter later tonight/early tomorrow that's also Shika/Saku. If you've read my story 'Drunk & Disorderly', it's a take on the incident that Shikamaru refers to in that (they don't really fit together though, just decided that I liked the idea of Shikamaru and Sakura vs a child). Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 3

Foundations

 _Chapter 3_

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As one of the top medics in the country, an ANBU medic, and the Hokage's apprentice, Sakura was used to being woken up abruptly and going straight into work mode. So when an ANBU messenger knocked on the door with a summoning to the hospital, it was mere seconds before she'd tugged out of Shikamaru's arms, thrown on her uniform and was sprinting across the rooftops.

The muggy air did nothing to rectify the lack of sleep that she was feeling, and she had to rely on years worth of training to stand on her own two feet. She was used to sucking it up for the sake of her patients.

"What happened?" she barked in her customary no-nonsense tone, oozing authority as she swept into the the hospital room. The room held the patients poisoned by the rebels - people that had been fine only mere hours ago.

"A relapse, Haruno-san, a bad one. The poison came back, it's burning their organs from the inside-out," a brown-haired nurse supplied from where she was currently attempting to put an IV in a man who was writhing in agony.

"Hold him down," she ordered a few of the closest doctors, before turning to the brunette. "Get more nurses, and make up more of the antidote." The nurse nodded, scurrying through the door. Turning to the male patient who was being restrained with some difficulty, she examined him closely, using her chakra like an x-ray.

The poison that she had removed the day before was now back, buried deep in the linings of the man's kidneys and intestines, burning away tissue at an alarming rate. But the poison was different. It had the same basic compound as the one she had already removed, but was behaving in a different manner.

 _Ok, Haruno, you know this. You studied poison for years - you're a specialist. What are you missing? What ingredient would you not detect, that would hide from you within the cells?_

As she thought, she scanned the man's body as thoroughly as she could, using more chakra than she probably should seeing as she wasn't at full capacity.

"Any idea what it could be?" asked one of the nurses holding down the man's ankles, sweating slightly from the effort.

"I have an idea," Sakura muttered, "but if it's what I think it is, this isn't good. I need a sample to confirm it though." As more doctors swarmed into the room, she gave the order to keep the patients as stable as they could, repairing the damage as it was created while she extracted a minute amount of the substance and began examining it at a table in the corner.

"Can't you just extract the rest?" questioned a young male nurse, watching her closely as he knitted together the cells of an elderly woman's lungs. Sakura shook her head distractedly, releasing a soft curse as she concluded what the deadly substance was.

"It's an Ember flower. That's what was in the poison. It wasn't extracted with the initial poison because it's effects aren't immediate - it was hiding within the cells of the body. It can't be extracted because it's already merged, which means it needs to be neutralised."

A look of confusion passed between a few of the nurses as Sakura waved over a doctor, scribbled him down a list of ingredients, and sent him off to the greenhouses.

"I didn't think Ember flowers were still around. I haven't seen one used as a poison in years," grumbled an elderly doctor, examining one of the patients for himself.

"No," Sakura began, lost in thought as she stared at one of the patients, "neither have I."

* * *

"The flower's from Sound."

The Kazekage's pen stilled, and slowly he raised his gaze to the haggard looking woman slouched in the chair across from him. Catching his questioning gaze, Sakura sighed and scrubbed a hand over her face agitatedly.

"The Ember flower was used as a poison years ago, often in controlled doses for torture by the Sound ANBU. When Sound fell after the death of Orochimaru, the whole land was torched and the flower was thought to have been killed off. It's incredibly hard to grow, it needs precise conditions and lots of time. Whoever these rebels are, they're connected to Sound in some way."

Mulling over this new information, Gaara leant back in his chair and thrummed his fingers on his desk in a quiet, steady rhythm. It was several minutes before he spoke again.

"It makes sense, I suppose. Oto is a waste-land, unprotected and uncontrolled - the perfect place for a band of rebels to create a hideout. The concerning question is why they felt the need to come all the way here just to kill a random selection of civilians."

"I doubt that's all they're here to do, Gaara." Sakura spoke softly, watching the young leader's face tighten in concealed anger. "For now, the important thing is that their poison is no longer effective. The patients are all fully healed, but they had to be kept in induced comas to alleviate the pain. Once they wake up, we can find out more about the rebels."

The redhead nodded slowly, before looking up at the sound of a knock on his door.

"Enter."

The door swung open, and Sakura smiled tiredly as Kakashi strode into the room. Leaping at him quickly, she threw her arms around his neck and dragged him down to her height. Her ex-sensei merely chuckled, patting her on the back lightly before pulling away to politely greet the Kazekage.

"It is good to see you again, Kakashi-san. I'm sure Sakura will catch you up on what has been happening." The silver-haired man bowed in acceptance, and aqua eyes turned to Sakura. "I have a meeting with my counsel regarding our next move, so go rest until I call for you again."

"Hai, Gaara-sama."

The two members of Team 7 then turned and headed out from the office, back into the baking heat of Suna's streets.

"Well, guess you have a lot to tell me then," Kakashi prompted, leading the way towards the main streets of the village. "Know if anywhere around here does ramen?"

* * *

It had been a while since Sakura had been on a hunt.

Call it whatever you like, tracking or tailing or searching, but a hunt was what it was.

ANBU was all about stalking their prey, and as part of the powerhouse that was Team 7, Sakura was familiar with hunts. As she strapped her weapons pouch over the thigh of her tight, black pants, she counted poisoned kunai and exploding tags with little thought. A smooth down of her red vest, a pull of her fingerless gloves and she was ready to go.

Shortly after returning to the guest suites with Kakashi - following a lunch where she had consumed her own body weight in noodles - she found herself cuddled up on the lap of her favourite grumpy ninja, who complained that her cat-like behaviour was making it difficult to try and read through 3 months supply of sentry records. Hoping that there had been an unusual sighting in the records that had been overlooked was a long shot, but they didn't have much to go on.

That was until the Konoha ninja were summoned to Gaara's office, where they received news that a bandage splattered in the blood of one of the rebels had been found at the fight sight, and finally they had something to track. The group had then headed back to their temporary home to prepare, with strict orders to meet Temari and Kankuro at the gates within 20 minutes.

It only took Sakura and Shikamaru 10 before they were ready to leave their room.

Just as she turned the handle, Shikamaru's palm lay lightly on her shoulder, bringing her gaze up to his face. His expression was blank, already in mission mode, but his eyes were narrowed minutely.

"Are you sure you're ready for this? You've barely stopped since we got here, and I know your chakra's practically drained so don't even bother lying to me."

Sakura snapped shut the mouth that she'd opened to argue his statement, and she pouted slightly.

"I'm fine, ok, I promise. I'll take a soldier pill on the way down there and I'll be good to go. Besides, the likelihood is that we won't even find anything, and if we do the report says there's only around ten of them - that barely requires effort for a team as big and skilled as ours." Sakura refuted, crossing her arms and raising a brow in defiance.

Shikamaru merely raised his hands and sighed in defeat, before following his girlfriend out of the room.

"Hey Tem! Hey Kankuro!" the pinkette called as they approached the gates, waving at the siblings that so far she had been too busy to see. The two called out warm replies, taking turns to hug her, before she and Kankuro started their usual routine of teasing and insulting the other. That usually went on for a while, so Shikamaru leant back against the wall of packed sand behind him to wait for the other team members.

"She still running rings around you?"

An eye cracked open to stare down the smirking blonde where she stood playing with her fan.

"Wow, no reply. Jeez, you really are fucked aren't you?"

The Nara rolled his eyes heavenward and - as he often did - questioned his choice in friends. Before Temari could start pressing him for details on their (non-existent-in-the-near-future) wedding in a scarily accurate replication of his mother, the other ninja appeared and grouped around Kakashi, awaiting instructions.

With a smirk that promised she wasn't done irritating him yet, Temari turned towards the eldest ninja of the group.

"Right, you all know how this works so let's not waste time. Akamaru and my dogs will take point, Neji and Hinata, you two keep an eye out - we need a warning on anyone in our vicinity. Shino and Kankuro, I want you to cover our backs and make sure we're not being tailed and led into a trap. Temari up front with me, you know the land so you can try give us an idea of what we're dealing with if it comes to the need to fight. The rest of you, keep sharp, we don't know who these rebels are, or what they want. Got it?"

His command was met with a series of 'yes, sir', and a loud bark from Akamaru. Nodding to himself, Kakashi bit his thumb and summoned his pack, holding out the bloody bandage for the group of nin-dogs to smell. After a few minutes of sniffing around the sand, the group caught the scent, and Akamaru and Shiba led the group Westwards, out of the villages border.

* * *

In all honesty, Sakura hadn't had much hope at all that they would find anything. She'd assumed that the rebels, after making a surprisingly brash move, would have retreated until the initial retaliation from Suna had died down.

This, however, was careless at best and suspiciously concerning at worst.

The camp was messy and abandoned, a fire-pit still warm in the centre, surrounded by a few utensils and a mat that were strewn across the ground.

The problem was, there shouldn't be a camp at all. These men were hunted rebels, they should know better than to leave behind a single speck of evidence that they were there. So why had they been so careless? There was no sign of a struggle, no scent of blood in the air, so why had they just not cared enough to hide their location?

"None of this adds up."

Shikamaru was the first to have spoken in several minutes, and his slow, even tone that indicated he was thinking a mile a minute immediately grabbed everyone's attention.

"The strike on Suna was sloppy. It was pointless," he elaborated, aware that all eyes were on him even though he was busy grimacing at the horizon. "They didn't take anything, they didn't even outright kill anyone, just poisoned them with a substance that they knew would give away their point of origin."

The tactician was on a roll now.

"And the bandage, maybe that could be passed off as a lucky break on our side. But the fact that it led us to this? A camp that they didn't even bother to hide?" The Nara shook his head slowly, his grimace hardening into something deadlier. "They're not here to overthrow the Kazekage, or steal for their own gain."

He raised his eyes suddenly, meeting the quiet gaze of everyone in the team, before fixing finally on Kakashi.

"They're trying to get our attention."

* * *

With the new revelation of the rebel's motive, a complete rethink was needed before they decided what move to make next.

The risk that the group were being led into a trap of some sort was too great to act recklessly, and opened up a lot of questions about who exactly these men were.

Sakura had spent the last couple of hours in the Kazekage Tower with Gaara, Shikamaru, Kakashi and Kankuro, attempting to come up with a plan. The exhaustion had finally caught up with her, though, and so she had left the men to their plotting with the sole aim of burying herself in bed until the morning.

However, as she entered her room, she immediately knew something was amiss. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and the muscles in her legs tightened mechanically. Pulling a kunai from her pouch, she crept silently through the shadows as she searched the apartment.

Upon entering the bedroom, her grip on the kunai loosened, and her arm fell to her side as her carefully controlled breath left her in a rush.

There, sat innocently on the bedsheets, bathed in cool moonlight, was a single Ember flower.

* * *

 **A/N -** Don't know why this took so long, but it's the main set up chapter for the plot so I wanted to be happy with it before I put it up (not that I really am, but whatever). I swear I'll update 'frat boys and she-devils' soon, it's just so hard to swap between Deidara/Sakura and Shikamaru/Sakura as they're such different characters - but it's coming, I promise!


	5. Chapter 4

Foundations

 _Chapter 4_

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The rebels were here.

They were in the city walls, somehow undetected. They hadn't just got into the city either, but into the Kazekage tower, without anyone realising. How was that possible from people who supposedly weren't even ninjas?

Sakura could only stare at the flower for a moment, the feeling of violation washing over her at the thought that someone had been in _her room_ and no one had noticed.

As much as she wanted to sleep, this was bad, and definitely couldn't wait.

After a quick scope of the room in search for traps, she snatched up the flower and ran back to where she had left the boys. Not even stopping to knock, she burst into the room. Kankuro was slouched in a chair, Kakashi was staring contemplatively out of the window and Gaara and Shikamaru were bent over a map of the desert, but all four men looked up immediately at her dramatic entrance.

"They were here, in the building." She exclaimed, holding out the now-slightly crumpled flower as Shikamaru started towards her. He reached out to take the flower, eyes narrowed on the bright orange petals.

"It was on our pillow, they've been in our room. Who else would leave me an Ember flower? They know we figured out the antidote, which means they must be watching us."

At her explanation, Kankuro clambered from his chair and Gaara's fingers tightened where they grasped the edge of the table.

"Kankuro, have the building searched now, I want every inch of this place checked," the Kazekage ordered, his brother quickly leaving the room with a grim look. Turning to Kakashi, he continued, "Do you think your dogs could find the scent?"

The jounin nodded, already pulling the necessary scroll from his pocket.

"Then I think it's best you summon your team, we cannot miss this opportunity."

Kakashi nodded once more, and went about his summoning as the redhead turned to Sakura and Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru-san, please accompany me, the perimeter needs to be checked."

"Of course, Kazekage-sama." The Nara bowed, locked eyes with Sakura once more and then followed Gaara from the room.

Sakura nibbled her lip worriedly, staring transfixed at the deceptively innocent looking flower in her hand. She was only brought from her musings when a hand clapped on her shoulder, and her vision was drawn to a single, calming eye.

"How much sleep have you had in the past couple of days?"

Sakura huffed a laugh and rubbed at her eyes.

"You don't want me to answer that."

Refusing to meet his concerned gaze, she waited until he harrumphed and removed his hand, heading for the door. She instantly followed, as did the band of dogs and as she walked, Pakkun fell back to trot at her side.

"You alright there, kid?"

It was still weird that she considered a talking dog as a rather good friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she reassured, but the frown she wore wasn't encouraging. "It's just that I have absolutely no idea what's going on. I mean, this is just plain weird. Shikamaru was right, they're trying to reach out to us, or provoke us or something."

"And you're wondering why they seem to be directing that at you?"

The little dog was watching her closely with a wisdom that a lot of the humans she knew lacked.

"Actually, I'm more worried that they might be targeting Shikamaru. Although, I suppose the fact that it was the flower that _I_ discovered they were using might suggest it's me they're after. "

Sakura trailed off, deep in thought as she let her old mentor and the excited pack into her room, watching as Bull carried on down the corridor to wake the others. The dogs immediately got to work, noses stuck to the floor as they spread out around her room. Kakashi took to the window instead, undoing the latch to swing it open and examine the ledge.

"You know, considering these guys aren't supposed to be ninjas, they sure are good at scaling buildings without a single person noticing."

The sarcasm in Kakashi's voice was so palpable that Sakura couldn't stop her eyes from rolling. Instead, she took the opportune moment while he had his back turned to subtly kick a not-at-all-appropriate bra under her bed.

She ignored the snickers that came from Shiba and Bisuke.

Urushi was the one to suddenly let out a sharp bark and call quickly for Kakashi.

A matter of minutes later, and Sakura was stood at the base of the wall somewhere along the Eastern side of the village. The dogs were scattered again, trying to figure out the entrance point of the rebels. That was where they were met by the rest of their team and Kankuro, the Konoha nin having been pulled from bed then quickly filled in.

"Wait, they came from here?" The puppeteer looked in disbelief at Kakashi. "People aren't supposed to get through these walls, that's kinda the point of them. Who the hell are these guys?"

Kakashi let out a heavy sigh and shook his head slowly. "I'm beginning to worry about the answer to that."

"It wasn't just us they were targeting this time," Kiba supplied, sniffing at the air distractedly. "They stole from a bunch of stalls over in the market, nothing major, but enough for them to live off for a couple of weeks."

This new information only made Kakashi sigh louder.

But before they could dwell on this, Pakkun padded over to his master.

"They definitely came from this way, boss. The scent leads underground right here."

"So they used Earth jutsu to burrow under the wall?" Kankuro asked incredulously. "Great, so they are ninjas, and good ones at that. Fucking fantastic."

Sakura couldn't help but agree with the sentiment.

"Ok, Sai, take one of your birds and fly straight over the wall, scout the area for anything out of the ordinary. Shino, go with him and use your bugs."

Both boys gave out a quick 'yes sir' as Sai drew out one of his ink eagles, and within seconds the two were so high in the night sky that they were invisible to the untrained eye. The group on the ground watched them for a moment before Kakashi began speaking again.

"I'll use my Earth release and follow their path underground, the rest of you head out the gates and circle round to me. We can't be far behind them judging by the strength of the scent, so be ready for a fight."

The team nodded, and Kankuro quickly led them out of the village and into the surrounding desert. It was pitch-black out here, and cold to boot, and Sakura rubbed her arms lightly as she squinted into the silent, empty horizon.

At her side, Neji was doing the same with his byakugan, a frown on his face as the veins around his eyes bulged and twitched.

"Hatake-san is that way, and his dogs are searching the vicinity. Perhaps we should stray slightly further this way, cover more ground." The Hyuga blinked away his dojutsu and turned to Shikamaru, the sub-team leader.

The Nara nodded, and ordered the group to scatter in pairs with their radios on at all times. Fixing the device around her neck, Sakura caught Kankuro's eye and smirked. The two didn't get to work together often, but when they did, they made a devastatingly powerful team. Their combined expertise of poison, along with the mix of short and long range attacks meant they complimented each other greatly - and besides, she didn't trust Kiba and Kankuro to work together. Instead, Neji and Shikamaru headed slightly South, and Hinata and Kiba started North towards Kakashi.

Sakura and Kankuro took the middle ground, and it took several minutes of walking for Sakura's sleep-deprived mind to realise what they had just done.

Neither of them were trackers.

Groaning at her own stupidity, she ignored the puppeteers questioning gaze and tuned into her chakra as closely as she could, all senses on high alert as she searched for anything.

A few minutes later, a small figure raced through the sand towards them and yelped an excited greeting. Sakura smiled at Shiba in return, following the pup that had his nose buried in the desert.

Tracking through a desert was notoriously difficult when the wind flattened out any footprints minutes after they were created, and scattered scents in the blink of an eye.

It was twenty minutes before crackling filled her ear, and Kakashi's deadpan shortly followed. Nothing to report, scents weak due to the wind, keep searching.

This carried on for half an hour before Shiba abruptly stopped, spinning to stare into the distance with his ears pricked attentively.

Kankuro and Sakura shared a concerned glance, subconsciously pulling their weapons out as they too squinted at the point Shiba was facing. Dropping into a fighting stance, Sakura crept silently up to the dog's side.

"Shiba, what is it?"

The dog growled, ears flattening and back tensing.

"There's chakra here, I don't know how many because they're trying to hid it, but it feels like a lot."

"Shit, we need to call this in." Kankuro advised, his puppets already in front of him in anticipation for a fight.

Nodding grimly, Sakura reached up to turn on her radio, eyes never leaving the horizon.

But she didn't get to call for backup, as before she could even part her lips, the ground under them shifted so violently that she had to flood chakra to her feet and drop into a crouch to stay upright.

Kankuro cursed loudly beside her, and Shiba began barking menacingly.

Then, just as the ground stilled enough for Sakura to regain her bearings, men began to emerge from the sand around them in a circle.

There were around twenty of them, all different ages and builds, but all looked tough enough for Sakura to know that the three of them probably didn't stand a chance.

This realisation was echoed in Kankuro's hardened expression, and he looked ready to pounce at a moment's notice. But in typical villain fashion, the men didn't just attack. Instead, the one she assumed was the leader clapped his hands together gleefully. He had dark burgundy hair and bright green eyes, and if Gaara grew 6 inches and seriously bulked up, this guy was pretty much him, just 5 or so years older. He held a long katana by his side, and had a smirk that was fixed on Sakura. The man then opened his mouth.

Oh good, a monologue - Sakura _really_ loved those.

"I see you got our message then? I was surprised it took you so long. And I know, you have many questions, but now is not the time for those." His final words were punctuated by him raising his katana, and Sakura realised that actually she wasn't going to have the chance to formulate a plan while the dude rambled on about how great he was and revealed all their plans.

Well, shit.

It was silent for a moment as everyone in the vicinity took up fighting stances, and stared eachother down. Then the rebel leader made a move.

A kunai flung in Sakura's direction sent her side-stepping left, where she then had to jump over a low kick from a brunette. Not sparing a second, she leapt backwards and clashed her sword against that of a burly thug. After a quick parry, she managed to nick his chest with the blade, and she quickly cartwheeled away to let the poison do its work as a lightning jutsu went flying over her head. Behind her, she could see Kankuro taking on another bunch of rebels, and Shiba ran around underfoot biting viciously at anyone he could reach.

Punching a rebel in the back with a force that sent him crashing into one of his buddies, she flung several hallucinatory smoke bombs around before retreating swiftly. Luckily, she had had the foresight to immunize Kankuro, and Shiba was clever enough to quickly back away from the smoke to the other side of the fight.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, she pressed down on her radio speaker and flung a handful of shuriken towards the stumbling rebels.

"This is Sakura, we found the rebels and are engaging in combat. Repeat, we're in combat and need urgent backup, do you read me?"

A chorus of 'on our way' and 'copy that' were her reply, and with no doubt that they would be able to find her team, she immediately got back into the fight, landing a roundhouse kick in the face of a drugged rebel and slashing the neck of another.

But the effects were wearing off, and Sakura was suddenly struck by the severity of how outnumbered they were. There was no time to worry, though, and Sakura had to ignore the protesting of her tired limbs, quickly chewing a soldier pill in a brief moment of reprise.

In no time at all, Hinata touched down on Sakura's left and began Gentle Fisting everyone that she could reach. Kiba and Akamaru careened through the chaos in their Fang Passing Fang move, and the numbers of rebels began to steadily dwindle.

Shortly after, when Sakura's sword was sent flying off into the distance and she was left flinging her hands up to deflect a katana blow, she was saved when the man suddenly dropped into a twitching pile at her feet.

Neji stood over him impassively, barely sparing Sakura a slightly smug look before he turned to fight at his cousin's side.

Only slightly irritated that Neji was now one-up in their little game of 'I save your ass more than you save mine', she was cheered up instantly by the familiar presence that blanketed her as Shikamaru hovered at her back in their usual formation.

The joy was short-lived though, as just when Sakura thought that they had this fight won, the sand under them shifted once-more and another 30 or so rebels sprang into the fight.

Sai, Shino and Kakashi all took this moment to drop down from Sai's bird, but Sakura still feared that it wouldn't be enough. Nine of them, plus an assortment of ninken, against over forty unknown ninjas?

It didn't look good.

However, she wasn't about to admit defeat, especially as the disappearance of Pakkun suggested that reinforcement from Suna's ANBU was incoming.

So instead, she gritted her teeth, retrieved her sword and faced up to the new wave of enemies.

They may have been using the remains of Sound country as a base, but these men clearly came from anywhere and everywhere. Justus of every elemental type flew through the crowd, and Sakura was faced with weapons and fighting styles she had never encountered before.

Combined with her tiredness, this led to Sakura taking more of a beating than she was hoping for. She had cuts scattered across her arms, a dislocated shoulder, and a pretty hefty blow to the back of her head had left her dizzy and sluggish.

In other words, this was really not good.

Then the leader appeared in front of her, and things went from not good to fucking terrible.

He was grinning as they fought, even though she was holding her own. She was smaller, stronger and quicker than him in spite of her head wound, but he was clearly much more experienced and was gaining the advantage.

In desperation, she feinted a stab at his stomach, then lunged for his face with her other fist as he dropped to block her.

Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough, and his katana came up to protect his face from her swing. The blade sliced through her wrist so deeply that she felt it scrape the bone, and a short, strangled scream broke free before she could stop it.

Immediately, she pushed away from the man to clamp a hand over the wound. Her chakra weaved the tendons and skin back together, but her chakra reserves were dangerously low from all the work at the hospital, and she couldn't afford to heal it all the way.

At her yelp, Hinata, who had been closest to her, had turned and shouted her name, alerting Shikamaru who was now threading between enemies to reach her.

Then suddenly there were two Shikamaru's, and her arm was on fire. The burning sensation that ripped through her arm travelled up towards her chest, battering her heart, and if Sakura had the ability to form words she would have screamed again.

Posion.

She'd immunised herself against the one created from Ember Flowers, so they had used a different one to catch her off guard.

Really, she should have expected that.

As she cursed her own thoughtlessness, she felt her legs give out and she dropped heavily to her knees.

Except that she kept going, sinking into the sand as if it was water. She tried to anchor herself with chakra, but couldn't, and the others were too far way. They wouldn't reach her in time.

And as the sand swallowed her whole, the rebels simultaneously melted into the ground after her, leaving a group of stunned ninjas, and Shikamaru yelling her name into the darkness.

The desert was silent.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ University assignments are a bitch, but I'm back thanks to Christmas break, so hi! (I'll update Frat Boys in the next couple of days as well, don't worry)


End file.
